[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 174 (Wednesday, December 2, 2015)]
[House]
[Pages H8868-H8869]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              WAR ON COAL

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Illinois (Mr. Shimkus) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. SHIMKUS. Mr. Speaker, as we hear talk of bills on the floor and 
international climate meetings with the world community, I want to 
bring to my colleagues' attention and to you, Mr. Speaker, the real 
destruction that is going on in the fossil fuel areas of our Nation, 
one that I represent, the Illinois coal basin.
  I want to start by quoting the mayor of a town named Galatia in two 
articles from the paper called The Southern. In a November 5 article, 
he basically says: ``Without the coal mines, we are going to be in dire 
straits. That's all there is to it.''
  The mayor is referring to what we have come to the floor numerous 
times to talk about, and you actually heard

[[Page H8869]]

it from my colleague today, the war on coal, the intent by this 
administration to take coal out of the portfolio of electricity 
generation--and, really, any other fossil fuel they can get their hands 
on, whether it be crude oil or whether they will then move to natural 
gas.
  Later on, the mayor, in another article from the same paper, on 
November 12, says because the New Era Mine in Galatia is now going to 
close, this closure, `` `It impacts everybody,' said David Harrawood, 
the village's mayor. `It doesn't just impact coal miners. It impacts 
trucking businesses, the stores, all their vendors. It's not just one 
segment. Down here, we're all tied together.' ''
  So that is the human toll of the war on coal. The human toll is lost 
jobs, lost benefits, bankruptcies, which then creates a risk to the 
promised pension payments to the retirees. It becomes a loss of revenue 
to the taxing districts, to the counties, to the villages, to the first 
line responders, support for our schools. It dries up the ability for 
the local grocery store to operate, the local hardware store, and it 
is, as the mayor has said, devastating to southern Illinois.
  Now, when you hear the debate internationally, it is carbon dioxide, 
CO2. In fact, I always talk in the committee about then-
Senator Obama and his quote to the San Francisco Chronicle, when he was 
interviewed by the editorial board, when he was asked about climate and 
his plan, and here is his quote. You can YouTube it. It is easily 
accessible. ``So if somebody wants to build a coal-powered plant, they 
can; It's just that it will bankrupt them.''
  That has been the plan since 2008. That has been the plan in the 
first 4 years of his administration, and that is what he is striving to 
do, pushing with all his force to not only do here in the United 
States, but do in an international venue. He is being successful, as we 
find out in the announcement of the closure of the mine in Galatia.
  The total number of coal mines opening each year has fallen to its 
lowest point in at least a decade. The total number of operating coal 
mines has hit its lowest point on record, according to the Energy 
Information Administration, which has records back to 1923. At the 
beginning of the Obama administration, over half the Nation's 
electricity came from coal. That number is down to 38 percent as of 
2014.
  Now remember, coal is the most efficient, the cheapest source of 
electricity generation and creates a baseload capacity that is very 
critical to keep the lights on. If you lose the baseload generation and 
you rely on renewables, you really do risk keeping the lights on, and 
you assure the Nation of higher costs of electricity.
  So that is the war on coal, and that is kind of where we are right 
now with the administration.
  So what has been the response on the floor of the House? What have we 
done? Well, fortunately, yesterday we took a parliamentary procedure 
and a process called the Congressional Review Act to address the 
ability of the administration to try to promulgate regulations without 
the authority of Congress.

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